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House Members Press Clinton On Genocide, Return Of Churches And Java

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  • House Members Press Clinton On Genocide, Return Of Churches And Java

    HOUSE MEMBERS PRESS CLINTON ON GENOCIDE, RETURN OF CHURCHES AND JAVAKHK

    asbarez
    Thursday, March 1st, 2012

    WASHINGTON-During testimony before two key U.S. House Committees
    Wednesday, Secretary Clinton was pressed on a range of concerns to
    Armenian Americans, including, most prominently, her recent remarks
    misrepresenting the Armenian Genocide, as well as calls for Turkey's
    return of confiscated Christian churches, the Administration's proposed
    19% reduction in aid to Armenia, and efforts to focus U.S. assistance
    to the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, reported the Armenian
    National Committee of America.

    Rep. Adam Schiff during the hearing House Democrats Adam Schiff
    (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jesse Jackson
    (D-IL) and Steve Rothman (D-NJ) each used a portion of their limited
    questioning time to focus Clinton's attention on key issues, with
    some responses offered during the hearing and others to be submitted
    in written form at a later date.

    Additional House Members may be submitting written questions on
    community concerns in the upcoming days.

    "We would like to thank Representative Schiff for pressing the
    Secretary to explain her recent remarks on the Armenian Genocide,
    and to express our appreciation to Congressmen Sherman, Cicilline,
    Jackson and Rothman for taking the lead in raising key community
    concerns with Secretary Clinton today," stated ANCA Executive Director
    Aram Hamparian. "Greater clarity on the Obama Administration's policy
    of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey's return of churches, and foreign
    aid policies toward the Caucusus are all very meaningful for Armenian
    American voters, as we prepare to go to the polls this November."

    Rep. Schiff Gives Clinton Opportunity to Correct Misrepresentation
    of Genocide; Clinton Dodges Question

    In a forceful series of questions offered during the House
    Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations hearing with
    Secretary Clinton, Rep. Schiff referenced the U.S. record of affirming
    the Armenian Genocide, citing a document submitted to the International
    Court of Justice in 1951 clearly referencing the Armenian Genocide,
    President Ronald Reagan's affirmation of the Armenian Genocide in
    1981 and Secretary Clinton's own statements as Senator properly
    characterizing those crimes.

    The California Congressman then juxtaposed this record with recent
    statements made by the Secretary in January, in which she referred
    to the Armenian Genocide as a "historical debate," and asked "is
    there any question that you have that the facts of that tragic period
    between 1915 and 1923 constitute genocide? Do you have any different
    view on the subject now than you did as a state - as a U.S. senator?"

    Once again, Secretary Clinton was evasive, resorting to euphemisms
    such as "terrible events," and "one of the worst atrocities of the
    20th century," but stopping short of her clear statements as Senator
    in 2008, when she affirmed that "the horrible events perpetrated
    by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of
    genocide." She noted President Obama's annual April 24th statement,
    in which he has argued that "a full, frank and just acknowledgement
    of the facts of what happened is in everyone's interest," then put
    the onus on the Turkish and Armenian people, and their respective
    governments, to resolve the issue.

    "The Armenian Genocide is a major crime against all humanity,
    requiring international justice, not a simple bilateral conflict
    between nations needing mediation," stated ANCA Executive Director
    Aram Hamparian. "According to her morally and factually flawed logic,
    America and the international community should have remained silent in
    the face of the Holocaust and other genocides in Rwanda and elsewhere,
    leaving it to the perpetrators and victims of these crimes to come
    to a common understanding of their past. It's truly a sad spectacle
    to see our nation's top diplomat pressured by Turkey to dance around
    the truth and play word games with genocide."

    Rep. Steve Rothman

    Rep. Jesse Jackson Both Representatives Jesse Jackson (D-IL) and Steve
    Rothman (D-NJ) associated themselves with Rep. Schiff's statement and
    inquiry during the hearing. Rep. Jackson went on to express concern
    about President Obama's proposed 19% cut in assistance to Armenia.

    Earlier this week, over 60 Members of the House of Representatives
    sent a letter to Secretary Clinton, asking her to renounce her recent
    public mischaracterization of the Armenian Genocide. In that letter,
    Members stated that the "historically inaccurate description of the
    Armenian Genocide as an open question, in addition to the offense
    it represents to Armenian Americans and other victims of genocide,
    provides American encouragement to the Republic of Turkey in its
    shameful campaign of denial."

    Read a copy of the letter.

    Rep. Brad Sherman

    Rep. David Cicilline Rep. Sherman Advocates U.S. Assistance to
    Samtskhe-Javakheti; Rep.

    Cicilline inquires about Turkey's Return of Churches During the House
    Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with Secretary Clinton, Rep. Sherman
    focused the first of his questions on U.S.

    assistance to the largely Armenian populated region of
    Samtskhe-Javakheti in the southern part of Georgia. "We have been very
    generous with the country of Georgia," explained Rep. Sherman, who went
    on to note that assistance to Javakheti would "help bind Javakhk to
    the Republic of Georgia, would help achieve our goals in the Caucasus."

    Last September, during a Congressional event celebrating Armenia's
    independence, Rep. Sherman had first discussed the importance of
    addressing the extreme poverty in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region as
    part of the broader U.S. commitment to strengthening Georgia and the
    Caucaus region overall.

    Later in the hearing, Rep. Cicilline allotted a portion of his question
    time to inquire about "our efforts to ensure that Turkey respect the
    Christians, the Churches and religious freedom in that country." Last
    June, Rep. Cicilline joined House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking
    Democrat Howard Berman (D-CA) in offering an amendment to the State
    Department Authorization bill which called on Turkey to return
    confiscated Christian Churches. The amendment was passed 43 - 1,
    with similar legislation (H.Res.306) adopted later by the full House
    in December.

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